Following a protracted battle against the coronavirus, Bnei Brak was officially categorized as a green city on Tuesday morning.

Only 35 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the city in the past two days, and the positivity rate stands at 3%, the Health Ministry reported.

The Bnei Brak municipality has made extensive efforts to reduce the infection rate in the city, disseminating health information and increasing enforcement of health regulations, including widespread inspections of city institutions.

“We marked another significant milestone in our battle against the coronavirus this morning,” said Bnei Brak Mayor Avraham Rubinstein. “We will continue to take action and will now invest all our efforts in assisting business owners and parents -and together with all our residents will daven and do everything we can in order to keep the city green.”

Most of Israel’s cities and towns are now green, with a remaining battle in the Arab and Druze sector, where the number of coronavirus cases has begun to rise recently, following a dramatic decrease in infection rate in early October. Health officials say that the increase is due to the resumption of large gatherings and weddings.

“There are only three “red” authorities out of 161 in which we operated the Anshei Chel program, through which the Home Front Command assisted quarantined civilians in their homes,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Tuesday. “This morning I visited one of them, Bu’eine Nujeidat in the north, for an evaluation with Council Chairman Munir Hamuda. We will continue our efforts until there are no red authorities remaining. We won’t leave anyone behind.”

נותרו רק 3 רשויות אדומות מתוך 161 בהן הפעלנו את תכנית אנשי חיל, בה פיקוד העורף והרשויות מלווים מבודדים בביתם. הבוקר הגעתי לאחת מהן, בועיינה נוג'ידאת בצפון, לסקירה עם ראש המועצה מוניר חמודה. אנחנו נמשיך במאמצים עד שלא תיוותר אף רשות אדומה. לא נשאיר אף אחד מאחור. pic.twitter.com/pJygOgkYWK

— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 27, 2020

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)